Anonymous ID: ddb988 Jan. 6, 2020, 7:47 p.m. No.7737471   🗄️.is 🔗kun

SOUTH CHINA SEA HAPPENING

 

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo (centre), Military Chief Gatot Nurmantyo (left) and Air Force Commander Agus Supriatna walk past fighter planes and weapons during a military exercise on Natuna Island in October 2016. Photo: ReutersIndonesia’s President Joko Widodo (centre), Military Chief Gatot Nurmantyo (left) and Air Force Commander Agus Supriatna walk past fighter planes and weapons during a military exercise on Natuna Island in October 2016. Photo: Reuters

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo (centre), Military Chief Gatot Nurmantyo (left) and Air Force Commander Agus Supriatna walk past fighter planes and weapons during a military exercise on Natuna Island in October 2016. Photo: Reuters

 

Indonesia will mobilise fishermen to join warships in the South China Sea to help defend against Chinese vessels, the government said on Monday, as the biggest stand-off with China for years escalated off Southeast Asia’s largest country.

 

In an unusually strong statement, President Joko Widodo told reporters: “There is no negotiation when it comes to our sovereignty.”

 

The stand-off since last month in the northern Natuna islands, where a Chinese coastguard vessel has accompanied Chinese fishing vessels, has soured the generally friendly relationship between Jakarta and Beijing.

 

Indonesia’s chief security minister, Mahfud MD, told reporters that around 120 fishermen from the island of Java would be sent to the Natuna islands, some 1,000km (600 miles) to the north.

 

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3044919/indonesia-mobilises-fishermen-south-china-sea-stand